@Article{jpa.2026.077432,
AUTHOR = {Xiaolong Zhang, Shan Huang, Jing Chen, Ziyi Zhang, Kexiang Yang, Weijie Gao, Hyun-Chul Jeong},
TITLE = {Physical exercise and depression among college students: The chain mediating effect of regulatory emotional self-efficacy and mobile phone addiction},
JOURNAL = {Journal of Psychology in Africa},
VOLUME = {},
YEAR = {},
NUMBER = {},
PAGES = {{pages}},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/jpa/online/detail/27385},
ISSN = {1815-5626},
ABSTRACT = {This study explored the relationship between physical exercise (PE) and depression among college students, focusing on the independent and sequential mediating roles of regulatory emotional self-efficacy (RESE) and mobile phone addiction (MPA). A total of 2021 college students (36.86% male; mean age = 19.02 years, SD = 1.38 years) completed self-report questionnaires assessing PE, depression, RESE, and MPA. The mediation analysis indicated a significant negative association between PE and depression. RESE and MPA each presented significant indirect effects in the separate mediation pathways. The sequential indirect pathway through RESE and MPA was also statistically significant. These results suggest that university mental health support may benefit from promoting exercise participation, strengthening students’ confidence in emotion regulation, and fostering healthier mobile phone use behaviours.},
DOI = {10.32604/jpa.2026.077432}
}